Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Eleven Hundred Dollars Sweater

We love patterns with a story and a sweater pattern dropped into ourmailbox recently at Fyberspates HQ that had a whole film behind it. The ElevenHundred Dollars Sweater, designed by Elanor King is partof the soon to be released Cooperative Press book ‘Hitch: Patterns Inspired bythe Films of Alfred Hitchcock' byStephannie Tallen. In this dramatic collection, knitwear designers havetaken inspiration from Hitchcock’s films to create some pretty film worthy knitwear. Whether you are planning a train ride to Mount Rushmore, a shoppingexcursion to a Bodega Bay bird shop, or simply a night peering out your rearwindow, this collection will keep you in the proper, stunning wardrobe for yourHitchcock adventures. We chatted with Elanor to find out about herfavourite movie moments and what she enjoyed most about designing from thisinspiration.

It seems we are not the only ones who are a little scared of Hitchcock’sfabulous ability to scare his audience. Elanor said ‘”Although horror andthriller movies terrify me to the point of hiding behind the sofa, I have beenknown to mute a Hitchcock film just to watch the gorgeous costumes by EdithHead. Rear Window is the movie that I took for my inspiration for Eleven HundredDollars - Grace Kelly has such feminine style in it. She wears deep V necks,lots of chiffon and her waist is so tiny! I've tried to incorporate some ofthese elements into the design: the sleeves are 3/4 length bishop style and ina mesh lace so there are hints of skin peeping through. The waist is emphasisedby the deep waistband and geometric zig zags. The difference in ease betweenthe band and the upper body (3") also enhances the wearer's shape. This isa top that would look great on a woman with curves (and that's not aeuphemism!)”

What is really striking is Elanor’s attention todetail so it comes as no surprise that the pattern includes lots of interestingdetails and different techniques to keep a knitter’s interest when working theproject. Elanor has captured a Lisa's character with her design as Lisa’s clothes inRear Window are fabulous celebrations of femininity: cross-over tops, wispy,floaty material, teeny-tiny nipped-in waists. The geometric lines and princessseams flatter and curve the waist and the sleeves are a flirty knit mesh withlots of shape. When Lisa shows off her Paris dress to Jeff she tells him it’s“A steal at eleven hundred dollars”, thus giving us the name of the sweater.

The sweater is worked from the bottom up then moves on to some interestingconstruction methods. The waistband is worked in the round to the crossover,then the body is worked flat and splits into back and fronts at the armholes.The sleeves are worked flat, top-down. There is a good range of sizes 30- 54inches and is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 Ply / Sport Superwash.Scrumptious4 ply Sport is a 45% silk, 55% superwash merino base with 400 yds / 365m per100g skein. Of the yarn, Elanor said, “It's a fab yarn, giving gorgeouscolour contrast and stitch definition in the mosaic stitch waistband. It ranvery smoothly for me and thus worked up quickly, which is important in a 4-plysweater! Also! It *ahem* withstood with grace a wee bit of frogging andre-knitting... I've been swatching lots of things in scrumptious since. For the KAL in April, I think I'll join in and work up another version innavy and beige. Though I'd also love one in a Cornflower blue and Creamcolourway; and Jen's green is my favourite colour.... so many choices!!!! Oneof each!”

We are so glad Elanor enjoyed the yarn and look forward to seeingmore of her designs. This title iscurrently available for preorder from the Cooperative Press website, and will be released on September 27. Pre-orderers will receive twoexclusive, bonus patterns: one for a cabled cowl and the other for a cloche. Toget your own colour combinations of Scrumptious 4 ply, please visit our shop. Stay tuned for morenews from the book as we are proud to be part of the ‘Hitch Blog Tour’ later inthe year.